Mr and Mrs Ghoul
by SheepJammies
Summary: Kaya Irimi and Enji Koma meet by chance, and soon become a couple. Little do they know, they're also the leaders of enemy gangs with a bitter rivalry. How will they juggle their relationship, gang responsibilities and wipe out the looming threat of the CCG investigator that's been deployed to the 20th ward? (Inspired by Mr. and Mrs. Smith)
1. Ch1

**PLEASE NOTE: For this AU, please pretend that ghouls can't tell other ghouls apart from humans by their smell. This was inspired by the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but very (VERY) loosely based on it, plot wise (I don't own Tokyo Ghoul or Mr. and Mrs. Smith). I know this is more of a crack ship, but I thought it was fitting for Mr. and Mrs. Smith. It was a mess trying to figure out how I wanted to start this, so feedback and advice would be good, please (and thank you).**

 **OTHER INFO: (According to the wiki page) the Black Dobers and En (Apparently that's the Devil Ape's gang) wrought havoc in the 20th ward about a decade before the Tokyo Ghoul storyline. So the characters are younger in this. I'm gonna guess they're in their early twenties. Please keep in mind, because it was shown that they were very different when the manager first met them, I'm going to try to write them like that.**

* * *

Kaya Irimi had expected a nice, simple mission. Her objective: Eliminate the nosy ghoul investigator that had been snooping around the 20th ward. Piece of cake, well, for her at least. She was the SS leader of the Black Dobers. She quite literally ate meddling fools for breakfast. But this kill had been much too easy, pathetically easy. As soon as his back was to her, she had leapt from her vantage point on a rooftop, gracefully slicing his neck with her kagune. He hadn't even seen her.

 _'What sort of dumbasses are they letting into the CCG these days?'_ , she thought. She almost laughed, looking at the corpse before her, splayed helplessly on the street like a bearskin rug. She could feel an arrogant chuckle bubbling in her throat- one which died down as soon as she realized what was wrong with the scene. NO suitcase. Meaning that this guy didn't have a quinque with him, and ghoul investigators _always_ had their quinque with them. She stooped over the body, flipping it over so the man was on his back, and lifted his jacket a bit. Bingo. She saw a gun- the type loaded with q bullets- holstered. She groaned and kicked the corpse in frustration.

Kaya had killed a fucking bureau investigator instead of the ghoul investigator. Sure, bureau investigators were pesky, but they typically sat on their asses and did paperwork all day at the branch offices. Though sometimes they accompanied the ghoul investigators, sticking to their sides like remoras to a shark. They didn't really contribute to the kill, but they fed off it anyway, mooching off the recognition to get a promotion. So, in short, the 'shark' should be nearby.

Right on cue, the door to the little shop beside her squeaked open, and a man with spiky white hair and round glasses stepped out, straightening his tie. Kaya immediately noticed his firm grip on the handle of a suitcase.

"Sorry for the wait, Fujiwara." He called as he looked up from his (now fixed) tie. His gaze went straight to 'Fujiwara', eyes widening, then up Kaya's legs, trailing over her black cloak, and finally resting on her mask. His jaw tightened. "Black Dog."

Kaya gave a mocking wave and he scowled. "I've heard about you and your little gang." She heard the sharp click of the latches on his suitcase and shifted into fighting stance. His quinque resembled a gauntlet, covering his right hand. He raised it towards her, sending a volley of spikes her way. She dodged with ease, then watched as he poised himself to strike again. Kaya ran to scale the building to her left, perching on the corrugated metal roof. She gave him another little wave and watched his left hand form a fist. _'So easily riled up...'_ , she snickered. He adjusted his aim then fired the spikes at her feet, and she jumped to the building across the street, laughing.

Then the investigator surprised her. He lifted his gauntlet at her again, but didn't fire. He kept it trained on her as he made his way to the corpse, moving his fallen colleague's jacket to take the gun from its holster. She rolled her eyes. He couldn't possibly hope to aim two weapons at her at once. She jumped back across the street to dodge the next barrage of spikes, and again, and again. _'Really? This bastard needs some imagination,'_ Kaya scoffed at the repetition, jumping back, _'He hasn't even used the gun yet!'_ She gave another leap, avoiding another load of spikes. This time, she slipped a bit as she landed, but righted herself quickly. Her dark eyes widened in realization. _'This dumbass isn't trying to hit me. He's tiring me out.'_ She dodged yet again. ' _He probably thinks he's outsmarted me.'_ This time when the spikes flew at her, she jumped but raised her kagune to fire ukaku shards at him in midair.

She saw his eyebrows go up as he scrambled to dodge. He only got grazed by a couple, which he shook off of his jacket sleeve. This left the gashes left behind clearly visible, shallow but still bleeding. She could hear him hiss in anger, and heard the click of his nails against the gun. She smiled. _'So I see it's time for the grand finale.'_ She hopped to the ground in a crouch, straightening up to look at him.

"You think you're slick, don't you?" He spat. She shrugged her shoulders, chuckling. "Laugh while you can, mutt."

She watched the tendons in his left wrist tighten as he raised the gun. He pulled the trigger, and she quickly dodged to the right. Straight into a round of spikes. She growled, but she could feel herself getting tired. So she shot him one last load of shards before giving a mock salute, leaping back onto the rooftops and making her way to a back alley.

After making sure no one was around, Kaya unfolded the plain shopping bag she had in her coat pocket. She took off her mask and black cloak and hastily stuffed them inside the bag, then began walking down the street, trying to slow the beating of her heart.

* * *

Enji Koma had expected a nice, quiet walk back to his apartment. Sure, the city was brightly lit and there were still cars bustling and pedestrians hustling across the streets, but not here. This was the shady part of town. The part where the sidewalks are cracked. Where there's graffiti on the walls. Where there's an old, shabby apartment building that houses a 22 year old ghoul. Of course, the pedestrians didn't know that, but the rate of human crime in the area kept them out regardless. So why was _she_ here?

When he turned the corner into another dirty street, he was surprised to see a young woman walking in his direction, a grocery bag in hand. She threw a glance over her shoulder, then picked up her pace.

 _'But there's no one there...? Maybe she's nuts.'_ He thought with a scoff. He debated whether or not he should go for the kill as she neared. He walked slowly, seeing the way her chin length hair bobbed with each stride, the way her thin eyebrows were furrowed with... worry? anger? deep thought?

Meanwhile, Kaya Irimi was thinking about how to get that fucking dove off her tail. She was really getting sloppy, wasn't she? _'Unacceptable,'_ She scolded herself. Her objective had been so simple. She'd really made a mess of things. She could hear footsteps behind and in front of her. She knew the investigator was approaching behind her, she could hear him speaking into his comm.

"This is Hachikawa, I was attacked by Black Dog. It killed Fujiwara and ran into the backstreets, search for it. It appears female, seems young. It was alone." He reported into the communicator. She furrowed her brow, looking up to meet the eyes of the guy walking towards her. He seemed around her age. She almost smiled when the idea hit her.

She blinked twice, offering a strained smile. He waved, thinking (he wasn't hungry, really, he'd eaten just the day before. Besides, he wanted to know what she was running from. Curiosity killed the cat.). She looked behind her one more time before looking back to the stranger and rushing to him.

"H-Hi, I'm sorry to trouble you like this, but, um, you see," She did her best to seem nervous, luring him in, "My ex has kinda been following me since I left the store, and, um, I just- I really don't..." She trailed off and looked at the ground.

Enji thought he understood. That dude must have hit her or something, and she didn't want him to do it again. He had to restrain a smirk as he thought, _'She'd be safer with that guy, doesn't she know what the Devil Ape is capable of?...'_ But of course she wouldn't. On first glace, he was just another handsome fellow walking home.

"I'll walk with you. Don't worry about that son of a bitch." He offered his arm and she giggled and took it.

 _'Poor girl fell for it.'_ He thought.

 _'Poor guy fell for it.'_ She thought.

Just then, Hachikawa rounded the corner, and Kaya tensed up. She turned to look her cover story in the face. He had dark brown eyes and a bulbous nose. She didn't recognise him, but something about his voice had sounded oddly familiar. She shook her head a bit, strands of black hair swirling around her. He laughed a bit.

"Hey, don't worry." He whispered in her ear, and she tightened her grip on his arm. Hachikawa looked at them for a second _,_ and she could feel her pulse in her ears, but he just frowned and kept walking. Success.

As soon as they turned onto another road she let go of his arm. Enji was still trying to decide what do with her. He really wasn't hungry, and it was a shame to waste food. _'Especially pretty food.'_ He thought. Kaya had already considered her options and decided to just let the guy go. _'As a thank you for letting me use him.'_ She thought, and giggled.

"Thank you, you have no clue how glad I am I found you." She said, tucking her hair behind one ear and moving to leave.

"No problem." He said, smiling. Yeah, he would just let her go. Besides, if he killed her, he would risk her ex hearing her pitiful screams and running back to find him feasting and report him. While he didn't really put much effort into his 'human' cover, he didn't want the CCG to find him. They'd _never_ catch the Devil Ape. _'My cover...'_ , He thought. He could use her. For something other than food. Humans had other human friends, or girlfriends. She would be good for that. _'What a great excuse.'_ "I'm Koma Enji, nice to meet you. Wanna meet up again sometime?"

She paused to consider the offer. Logically, having a human friend or boyfriend would help her assimilate. But this guy could also find out about her and report her to the CCG... She studied his face. She couldn't say why, but she decided to give it a shot. Reluctantly, she smiled and held out her hand, "I'm Kaya Irimi. And yeah, that'd be nice."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading this, I would really appreciate any sort of feedback in the reviews (good or bad). The next chapters will probably be longer. Sorry for the cheesy title by the way.**


	2. Ch2

**Thanks to CarlMike94, Guest, and False Mirror for the reviews! I hope this doesn't disappoint. Also sorry this took a bit, updates should be sooner now that I've settled back into school schedule and all.**

* * *

"What?!" The high pitched voice ricocheted off the walls of the empty warehouse. "You let him get away?" Kaya gritted her teeth but nodded a response to her second in command's inquiry. This response was followed by more gasps of shock and exclamations of disbelief from the girls of the gang. Kaya growled, facing her second in command. She was still fuming at herself for the screw-up, and the last thing she needed at the moment was to be admonished by the 19 year old in front of her.

"Look, I just killed the wrong guy, okay? It won't happen again." Kaya spat. She'd already taken off her mask, so they could all see her scowl. The gang immediately quieted, shifting uncomfortably as an awkward silence settle in the room. Not that it bothered Kaya. She would take an awkward silence over the boisterous chatter any day. Especially in the old warehouse they used as headquarters nowadays. There was minimal furniture, just a few cots in a corner and some crates of supplies, and an old desk and a tattered rug from whoever had used this warehouse before them (Why put a desk in a warehouse? Who knows. There's some real fucking weirdos out there.) The ceiling was plain cheap metal with some skylights, presumably to save money on electricity by using sunlight during the day. Now they were a bit dim, due to a combination of muck covering them and low evening light. Overall it was a good base, and it served them well. The problem was the walls. The echo would bounce off the bare walls, crashing into her eardrums in harsh waves. So it wasn't rare that she left meetings with a headache. She felt the warmth of a hand on her shoulder and turned to face her second in command again. Brushing her black hair behind one ear, the slightly younger girl smiled and patted her shoulder gently.

Kaya sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. "Sorry, Saki." What kind of leader was she? First, she lets her target get away, then, she loses her cool in front of her team. The list of errors was getting longer, and this gang meeting was bound the be an absolute mess.

Saki shook her head. "Don't worry, Kaya. We all know you've been stressed out lately." The other girls around them nodded vigorously, removing their dark masks to reveal expressions of concern and friendly eyes. "Everyone screws up every once in a while, right?" More nodding. Her hand rested a bit more heavily on Kaya's shoulder now as she leaned in to whisper. "Really, Kaya, I worry. You're gonna drive yourself insane if you keep this up. You beat yourself up when you shouldn't. Maybe try to do something to get your mind off of it for a while, yeah?" Saki stepped away from Kaya, her eyes hopeful.

"Okay, fine." Kaya rolled her eyes, but her tone wasn't as harsh as before. Saki smiled again. "I guess I'd have to anyway, since I got a date this afternoon." And the outbursts of surprise began once again. "Hey, quiet it down, girls." She could feel the slight pounding behind her ear like the vibrations before an earthquake; looks like she'd leave with a headache today. But the girls, as usual, were indomitable, impossible to tame.

"Oh, come on!" Called Karin, "We're just curious. What's he look like?"

"Yeah, Kaya! Come on, what's his name?" Added Miyu.

"Ooh, how'd you meet?" "He'd better treat you right, or we'll fucking get him." "Is he hot?" Questions were thrown at her in rapid succession, much like the volleys of kagune shards she used. She crossed her arms and cleared her throat, and the hectic questions died down.

"He's tallish, with chin length brown hair and a big nose." She paused as the girls began to chatter excitedly, continuing after Karin shushed them. "I don't know if I'd say he's hot, but he's not hideous. His name's Koma, and as for how we met..." The girls sat on the floor, forming an arc around her. They were apt listeners, and as Kaya finished Miyu got up quickly, flipping her curly hair over one shoulder.

"Oh, we should help you get ready for your date tonight!" She suggested. The others shouted their agreements, crowding around Kaya and giggling. Kaya raised an eyebrow. She really wasn't sure she liked the idea of this. But she looked around at these girls, her girls, her friends. Excited and giggly, just liked normal young girls might be. She was used to seeing them serious in battle, sad or angry afterwards, but she liked it when they were like this. It only happened on rare occasions, but when it did, Kaya liked to pretend they were like a normal group of friends. She'd never admit it, obviously, lest anyone think she wants to be a disgusting, weak human. But it was her guilty pleasure. So right now, with Yuna commenting that they should curl her hair, and Karin excusing herself to run home and get her make-up kit, Kaya had to fight a smile. _Can't let them think I'm weak, after all._ She thought.

"Eh. Why not." She lost the fight, shrugging, and commanded. "Do your worst, ladies." She laughed as cheering came from the girls, who scrambled to go home and get their supplies, or debated what color she'd look best in ("Everyone looks hot in red!"), or just simply laughed. It was like one big sleepover. At least, how she'd expect a sleepover to be. One with about 30 attendants.

Kaya thought back to their last battle, where Saki, who now produced a hairbrush from her lacy purse, had torn their prey's arm off. And then she thought of Yuna, recalling her decapitating a man with a clean cut from her kagune,but was now running a hand through her hair ("Should I curl or straighten?"). The range of emotions her gang members displayed never seized to amaze her. Personalities could be so complex.

She felt her temper spark up again, running like a shock to her now clenched fists as a thought hit her. This could be their daily life. Normalcy could be theirs. They could lead lives full of laughter, joined by simple camaraderie instead of need to survive. If it wasn't for those fucking CCG soldiers, taking away her joy supposedly to preserve someone else's. What a bunch of-

Her tangent was interrupted by a gentle touch on her scalp. Her expression relaxed as she realized that Yuna was running a hand through her hair, taking out some knots. Yuna's digits glided softly over her head, and it was surprisingly therapeutic to Kaya. So, she'd be lying if she said she didn't also enjoy it when her subordinate curled her short hair into neat little looping strands. She watched her hair slowly unravel from the iron, feeling her tension, her jitters about the date, the investigator, everything, slowly unwind too. It would be fine. They would power through this, like they always did. Kaya took a deep breath and let it out through her nose slowly.

"So are we going for hot or pretty?" Emi said, holding a blouse in her left hand and a tube top in her right.

"Kaya seems more serious than those, to me." Saki said, eyeing the tube top with doubt. Kaya narrowed her eyes and Saki held up her hands. "Nonono, I didn't mean anything. It just doesn't seem like something she'd wear, you know?" Saki crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow as Emi scrutinized the clothes she held.

"Well, to be fair, I wasn't being myself when I spoke to him." Kaya admitted. "I was trying to act like some pretty airhead who needs protecting."

"Ok, so we can do that." Emi nodded, dropping the tops into a bag. "I'll see what I have." She trotted off to a little crate at the corner of the warehouse. A few girls lived here if they couldn't afford housing. Emi was one of them. Kaya stayed sometimes, but more often than not she'd walk home to her little apartment, seeking the serenity of silence.

"I'm done." Yuna announced, stepping back from Kaya and handing her a little compact mirror. Kaya admired the curls, tugging on one and watching it spring back into place. She shook her head a bit, watching them bounce. _In another life,_ she thought, _Yuna would've made a hell of a hair stylist._

"Thanks, guys." She said as Emi herded her to the back to try on a skirt. Glancing back, she saw that Yuna was now straightening Miyu's long curls while a couple others watched.

Maybe this whole "date" idea was just what the doctor ordered, not just for her, but for all of them. Laughter _is_ the best medicine, after all.

* * *

Enji tapped his knuckles rhythmically against the old wooden door, using the secret code (Morse code for "Give em hell", or morse code for "ass". Either one would be accepted.). The rickety old thing swung open, letting out a thin stream of light. Enji could see a singular brown eye staring at him through the crack. Then the eye crinkled at the edge, evidence of a smile, and the door opened fully.

Adjusting his mask as he stepped in, he heard the door click shut. He looked around at the members of En, sitting on the wooden floor in a circle playing cards. He cleared his throat, and they all turned to face him. He widened his stance and crossed his arms. They sat up straighter.

"Well, men. Word on the street is that there's a new investigator in town. Is there room for all of us?" He asked.

"No!" They shouted before breaking out into laughter. Enji joined them on the floor. His second in command, Riku, who had opened the door earlier, sat to his right. They were in the back room of an abandoned hotel. It had gone out of business some years ago, but it still had a bunch of useful items in it, pens, beds, soap, etc. So it made a very nice headquarters for the fearsome En gang. The room was lit by a bare bulb hanging by some wires, and the fluorescent sign outside the hotel's front was burned out so they couldn't easily make out the real name of the hotel. The reception room was covered in graffiti and a couple of the windows were shattered, but it served its purpose.

"So, who wants to take him out?" Enji said.

"Hey, speaking of taking out, is it true you got a date tonight?" asked Yamato, elbowing Enji from the left. A couple others chuckled, and Enji elbowed him right back.

"Yeah, but it's not any of your business." Enji replied. After some more elbowing and protests from curious gang members, he gave in. "Alright, alright. Her name's Irimi. She's got black short hair and a good figure, she seemed a bit nervous though. But, I mean, who wouldn't be nervous around the infamous Devil Ape?" A few more chuckles came after that. "She seems okay, but if things get out of hand, I think I can handle it."

"Yeah. It shouldn't be a problem though." One man said. "You usually have fine _taste_ in women." A brief roar of laughter followed.

"Okay, really though." Haruto, always serious said. "What are we gonna do about the investigator?"

Enji groaned. He'd really rather not think about that new investigator, yet another CCG creep he'd have to get off his back. Who said humans had to have the authority? Who said they were the ones in charge? As unpleasant as it was to think about the fact that they were in constant danger, constantly threatened by the CCG, it was slightly satisfying to know that they were in the same boat. The CCG was in constant danger from them, the ghouls, the fearsome Devil Ape and his gang of miscreants. It was somehow fulfilling, but never quite enough.

"I'm pretty surprised the Black Dobers haven't got him yet." Riku said.

"Well, maybe they're preoccupied. Their big warehouse ain't exactly conspicuous, and with another set of eyes looking for them maybe someone got caught." Enji speculated aloud, running a hand through his sweaty hair. Abandoned buildings had the upsides of being A) free and B) generally not of interest to the public, but the downside of no air conditioning.

"Yeah. Or maybe they screwed up." Riku joked. Haruto snorted as a couple others snickered.

"Oh please. The Black Dobers are tough. Not as tough as us, but tough. They can take on some rookie investigator without a problem." He said, crossing his arms. "Anyway, I didn't ask what the Black Dobers were doin' about the investigator, I asked what we were gonna do. So answer me." His eyes narrowed. Haruto, though he liked some sort of order and was dedicated to efficiency, had a short temper. Most gang members had learned how to pick their battles, but some younger ones still had to learn.

"Ah, jeez, who died and made you gang leader?" Yamamoto said, throwing his cards on the floor with frustration. "Seriously, man. You're too serious." Haruto gritted his teeth visibly while Yamamoto stared him down, unflinching.

"Hey! Save the fighting for the investigator, would you?" Enji asked, and though his tone was light, his eyes were serious. "Anyway, I think we should just have a couple men stake out the investigator before we decide the best way to kill him and who's best suited for the job." A couple men nodded agreement, and Haruto (though his face was still stone) didn't have such an angled crease to his eyebrows, which Enji took as a sign of satisfaction. Enji saw how dark it was out the window and slapped his forehead with his palm. "Aw shit. I'm gonna be late. Riku, take over. Fill me in later."

As Enji rushed out, putting on his mask and zig zagging through shadows and onto rooftops, possible excuses floated through his mind, each more ridiculous than the last. _'There was traffic. Even though I walk everywhere.' 'I had to work. But I can't tell you where I work.' 'I had a... family emergency... my niece needed a pituitary gland transplant...'_ He ran through the lies as he ran through the streets, shooting each one down. _'Oh well. I'll figure something out.'_

He was so busy racking his mind for an explanation that he didn't take much note of his surroundings. Especially not the figure cloaked in the shadows of pungent garbage bins out in the alley, clutching a pair of binoculars in one hand and disposable camera in the other.

* * *

 **Oh my goodness the last half of this was rushed, but I really didn't want to wait longer to update so I'll probably go back and edit this later. Please feel free to point out grammar or spelling errors and stuff so I can fix them quicker. Disclaimer: I don't own Tokyo Ghoul.**

 **Also, this chapter might seem like characters are all over the place, and I'm sorry about that! But since Koma and Irimi are the only named members of the gangs, I have little choice but to browse baby name websites and throw in OCs to fill spots.**

 **Anyway, please please review, I would really appreciate feedback. Thank you all for reading!**


	3. Ch3

**Hi! My goodness, I know it's been forever since the last update, but now that my extracurricular activities have ended (for the most part anyway) I should have more free time to devote to this. Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to read this! :) Extra long chapter as apology.**

Kaya had been humiliated plenty of times this week. Killing the wrong guy, failing to kill the _right_ guy, losing her cool in front of her girls. She was _not_ ready to add getting stood up to that list. She stirred her coffee vigorously, seeking an outlet for her frustration.

The time was 7:46 according to the clock on the cream colored wall of the quaint little coffee shop. He was not five, not ten, but a whopping fourty six minutes late. At this point, she didn't even expect him to show; Kaya was now here for the coffee. And a lot of it. For ghouls, getting pathetically drunk on alcohol wasn't an option, so she turned to drowning her humiliation in coffee and ordered her fifth cup. Besides, it would be such a shame to let the hard work the girls put into preparing her go to waste. She picked at her curled hair, stretching it and watching it bounce back into shape. Her makeover had left her feeling as confident as a covergirl, even though assimilating to human society was not her forte, she had felt so prepared.

Maybe that was it. Maybe she was so upset about being stood up because it was yet _another_ aspect of a normal life that she was being denied. Except this time it was even worse. It wasn't because she was a ghoul, it was because her date was a jerk. An inconsiderate jerk. She huffed and took a swig of coffee, savoring its familiar and comforting taste, letting its warmth trickle down her throat and slowly into her limbs. She was glad they had planned to meet at a coffee shop instead of something fancy she couldn't consume. At least the evening wasn't a total bust. She took another sip and rested her head on the hard wooden surface of the table, thoughtlessly tracing the swirls and rings in the wood with a freshly manicured nail.

The dinging of the bell at the door barely registered in her head. So someone else had come in. So what. She didn't bother to lift her head until she heard the other chair at her table being pulled out. She scowled, snapping upright. And there he was. Koma Enji sat in front of her, smiling. She immediately wiped the scowl off her face, replacing it with a blank look. She raised an eyebrow. He had the decency to look ashamed, scratching the back of his head with one hand and offering her a bouquet of purple hyacinths.

Oh, she was gonna kill him...making her wait like that... then showing up and expecting she was shallow enough to be appeased by some glorified weeds... oh yes, he was definitely done for. She would literally skin him alive.

"I, uh, sorry." He said, clearing his throat, "The flower store guy said these flowers mean 'Please forgive me'. I-I hope you like them." She accepted the bundle of bright purple flowers from him. Her expression changed to allow a fake smile. She saw the tension from his muscles ease away at that. _Oh, you're not getting away this easy, you imbecile, s_ he thought, fighting to keep her eyes from narrowing into a glare.

"O-oh, thank you." She said simply, "That's s-so sweet." She could feel herself trembling with rage. He bothered to show up. Meaning he thought she would still bother to wait for him after _fourty six_ whole minutes. Did he think she had no better things to do? Did he value her time so little? Did he _respect_ her so little? _'I'll show him...'_ she seethed.

 _'Oh, no. Her voice quivered didn't it?'_ Koma thought groaning. He risked looking her in the eyes. _'No tears...but...'_ he saw the slight jumping of her shoulders. _'Oh my god... She's trembling, she must be trying so hard not to cry... She got dolled up too... Man... She managed to make the Devil Ape feel guilty...'_

"I-I really am sorry, you know!" He blurted, and he saw her begin fussing at the petals on her flowers. "Um-uh, it's just... you see..." He racked his brain for a believable excuse. It was much harder than he imagined it would be, looking into her deep brown eyes. He looked down at his lap, wringing his hands.

"Yes? Please, go on." She forced out. _'Oh boy. Can't wait to hear this one. Maybe he was busy kicking puppies. Or stealing candy from babies. Or holding a secret ghoul-gang meeting. Haha, that'd be a good one.'_

"My grandmother- Sakura," He spat out the first name to pop into his head, "Is very sick. She, uh, needs help with even the most basic things, y'know?" He waited for her to nod before continuing, "So I had to feed her before I could come. But she didn't want the soup I made her, so I had to start all over and make something she wanted to eat. But I got here as soon as possible!" He felt sweat leaving a cold trail on his forehead as he watched Irimi process his excuse, slowly smiling wider. _'Ah. She fell for it.'_

"Oh my gosh, that's so sweet!" She said digging her nails into the crinkly foil the flowers were wrapped in to release her pent up rage, "I hope she feels better soon, poor thing!" She let her smile falter, as if showing pity for his dear old grandmother. _'Wow. Even his old hag of a grandmother sounds insufferable. To have the audacity to demand he cook her something else? Ugh.'_

"So," Koma looked at the collection of empty coffee cups on the table, "I take it you already had your fill of coffee." _'I'm starting to think she was trembling from caffeine overdose instead of crying.'_ He thought. _'Girl loves her coffee.'_

"Oh, don't worry." She said. "I'm still thirsty." _'Bloodthirsty...'_ She thought, "But if you'll excuse me, I have to go powder my nose." Kaya gathered up her borrowed purse in her arms and headed for the women's room, where she could hopefully calm down and decide which way she would kill him.

As she strode away, he drank in the rest of her outfit. _'She's not the only one who's thirsty..."_ he thought, appreciating the way her hips made her pink ruffled skirt sway. His eyes followed their movement for a bit, left to right, left to right, again and again. He had to admit, she had a surprisingly nice ass. Her pale pink blouse had a horse shoe back that showed off a surprisingly toned back, and his eyes followed the lines of her shoulder blades, trailing over the tempting skin to the point where they disappeared under the fabric. Her skirt was also short enough to display notably muscular legs, long and complimented by her heeled shoes. _'Huh. She must be in a sport. she seems like she'd be a gymnast.'_ He mused.

* * *

Kaya entered the women's wash room and growled as she began to pace. Her heels clicked on the tiled floor, and the sound echoed obnoxiously off of the walls. That reminded her of the warehouse and its pathetic acoustics, and that reminded her of her girls, who would surely want all the gossip the second she returned. They'd be disappointed, and probably try to comfort her, and it would be unbearably awkward. Ugh. She couldn't bear that. But a sharp click snapped her back to reality.

The familiar sharp click of metal against metal.

Like on a latch.

A shock traveled up her spine and through her limbs, making her jump into a fighting stance and face her adversary. Surely a dove wouldn't just walk into a women's restroom and whip it out would they? They hadn't even seen her yet, so why break out the quinque? She closed her eyes, ready to activate her kakugan, when she was stopped by a feminine voice.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." The voice was chipper, and it prompted Kaya to open her eyelashes, revealing her brown irises and white corneas hurriedly taking in every detail of the woman. Shiny dark hair pulled up into a tight bun, wide brown eyes, and a friendly smile. Tension slowly drained from Kaya, leaving her with a strange feeling of emptiness buzzing throughout her body. She frankly didn't know whether to be mad at the woman for scaring her or at herself for being startled so easily.

"Oh, don't worry. I've been pretty strung out in general lately." Kaya managed to arrange her features into a smile, even managing a giggle. The older woman in front of her raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, but you're so young." She said. _Age has nothing to do with this, bitch. I'm not a child._ Kaya thought. _I might be younger, but you have NO CLUE what I can do..._

Before Kaya could voice anything, the stranger put her hand on her shoulder. Kaya tensed immediately at the foreign feeling of her touch. She moved to wipe the woman's hand off when she heard the question.

"What's troubling you?"

Never before had a stranger been so concerned for Kaya. Growing up on the streets, she'd become accustomed to adults trying to take advantage of kids, teenagers, or anyone younger than them in general. The fact that this stranger would give importance to whatever was troubling Kaya shocked her. There had to be some ulterior motive, right?

After a deep breath, Kaya gave the woman another look over before hesitantly answering. The woman's deep eyes combined with her lack of a shiny dove suitcase were convincing enough, or maybe Kaya was just desperate enough.

"I'm on a date but I've never actually gone on one before, so everything I say seems awkward, and he showed up late so it's even more awkward, and I've had some problems with... work, and it just feels like I haven't done anything right at all lately." She knew she had a tendency to babble when she let it all out, and was immediately embarrassed that she was doing this with a stranger. Glancing up, she noticed a smile on the woman's face. _What a bitch, she thinks this is funny?_ Kaya thought.

"I see." The woman said. "Well, think of a date as a free trial. If you like him, or think you could once you get to know him better, plan another. If not, when he asks for your number, just give him some pizza shop's number, never talk to him again, and move on. It'll work out fine." Kaya stared with disbelief. _I can't even do that though, I don't even eat fucking pizza, I don't know any numbers, what the fuck kind of advice?_

"I know that seems like weird advice, but it works." She said, giving Kaya one last reassuring pat on the shoulder before walking into a bathroom stall.

Kaya groaned, muttered a 'thank you' and walked out of the women's room.

* * *

Enji sat alone at the table, stirring his coffee idly with a small straw. He knew he messed up, but he was trying to figure out why he cared so much. He fucked up on a regular basis, but he'd never felt this bad before. Guilt did not come naturally to a ghoul. When your survival depended on killing, guilt could not be afforded.

So why did he feel this way?

It had to be guilt. It felt just like he'd imagined it would. A heavy feeling that settled at the base of his stomach, twisting his insides.

He'd hurt her. She had clearly been upset, very upset in fact, when he arrived late. He knew her ex (that lunatic that he'd helped her escape from) was abusive, or at least awful enough for her to want to get away from him desperately enough to ask the help of a stranger. How long had it been since she went on an enjoyable date? Was he the first guy she went out with after that fuckwad? He probably was. She'd probably been amazed by his apparent kindness when they'd met and enchanted by his stunning looks. She got an impression of him that he could never live up to, of course.

But no one had ever had such high expectations of him before.

Meaning he'd never let someone down this much before.

Aw, man. Now she would never trust another guy again. Her ex was a maniac who she was afraid of, he was late and came up with a clearly fake excuse. She probably thought he was cheating on her. Chicks assume that all the time, right? But she'd seemed to buy it. Or was she pretending to buy it? Maybe she went into the bathroom to cry, or to call her friend and vent.

He groaned and raked his hand down his face. Girls were so complicated. Was this even worth it? _Why_ did this matter so much again?

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see a waiter smiling understandingly at him.

"Young man," his breath smelled strongly of coffee, "She'll come around. You just gotta get her to give you a second chance. Make it up to her."

Enji raised an eyebrow. "Well, man, I just do- wait a second here, have you been eavesdropping?"

The waiter laughed. "Ehm, not exactly, sir. You see, this is a fairly quiet shop we run here. Not much loud chattering, so your conversation kind of... stood out." He gave an awkward smile and another laugh.

"Wait- Shit are you telling me everyone heard _everything_?" Enji looked around the shop to see that everyone in the vicinity was indeed looking at him. An old woman nodded at him in answer. "Oh, I fucked up." He blurted. Discretion was clearly not his best quality.

"You watch your language, young man!" The old woman exclaimed, looking scandalized.

"He's right, Sakiko, he fucked up real bad." The man accompanying her added. The rest of the clientele nodded from their respective tables.

"Aito!" She gently chastised the man on his choice of words.

"I guess I'll have to ask for a second chance then." Enji grumbled. He was going to stoop so, so low. But it would make the guilt go away. He really wanted the inexplicable guilt to go away.

"That's it." The waiter clapped him on the back as the onlookers mumbled their agreement.

Heads turned as the door the bathroom opened, watching eagerly as Irimi came out. Enji downed his coffee as one would down a shot of tequila, bracing himself.

* * *

As expected, her shitty date was still sitting there drinking his coffee. She held back a groan and sat down. She had no reason to put up with this anymore. She wasn't entertained, there were better ways to appear human, and she had lost her appetite. So she was just going to call it a day when he cleared his throat.

"Look, Irimi." He began. "I know I really fu-" an old crone sitting at the next table over cleared her throat loudly, and he rolled his eyes before continuing, " _goofed._ I really goofed up today. And I just want you to know that I regret hurting you in any way, or wasting your time. But if you give me another chance, I'll make it up to you, I swear."

Irimi couldn't hold back a sigh and a snort. The word "no" was crawling to the tip of her tongue when she looked at his face. His eyes held an expression she was used to seeing.

Fear.

He was genuinely afraid that she would reject him. Or he was a very good actor, possibly bette Her tongue stilled before it could form the word. One more chance wouldn't hurt, right? How many times had someone granted Kaya a second chance? How many times had she _wanted_ one? She shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Fine. One more date." She agreed. Koma exhaled loudly, smiling. The waiter that had been hovering by their table mirrored his smile.

"She said yes!" The waiter announced, and the small coffee shop broke out into cheers. Kaya turned her head in confusion, curled hair bobbing as she looked at the people. Had they been watching the whole time?

"Yes." Koma supplied.

Had she said that out loud?

"Yes." Koma said. Kaya laughed, genuinely for once. Maybe she had some decent gossip for the girls back at headquarters after all.

* * *

 **Ok, so once again I'm sorry this is so very late. Please please please review if you would be so kind, and feel free to point out any mistakes I missed. Thank you for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**In which the other plot makes a reappearance. Also I'm thinking of revising the previous chapter, I feel like my past as a crack fic writer shows a bit too much, oops. (Sorry about that)**

The next day greeted Kaya very suddenly, as she was snapped out of her dreams by a pillow to the face.

After her date the night before, she'd just made her way to the warehouse, having no interest in doing much of anything with a headache. She'd been greeted warmly by Saki and Miyu, who were on guard that night. Saki just raised an eyebrow, and after seeing the exhaustion on Kaya's face she nodded and let her through without question. Kaya was thankful. She didn't know if she'd made the right choice in giving him a second chance, but she was sure she didn't want to have a group discussion on it just yet. She had a headache and wanted to crash.

Clearly, though, the girls were done giving her space. She cracked open one bleary eye to find about thirty faces crowded all around her cot. She heard the giggling start. _Oh boy,_ she thought. _Here it comes._

The girls standing around Kaya quieted down when their leader sat up in her worn out cot, stretching her arms over her head. Her blurred vision quickly focused as the sleep drained away from her, metal gray walls and cracked concrete flooring coming into focus.

"Good morning, ladies." She sighed, waiting for the inevitable question. The other ghouls looked at each other, giggling again, waiting to see who would ask. Kaya was pretty sure it would be Emi, who had a bit of a thing for gossip (a lot of a thing), but to her surprise it was her own second in command who dared to venture the question.

"Sooo, how'd it go yesterday?" Saki said, flipping shiny hair over her leather clad shoulder. The others quieted down, eagerly waiting for her response.

"It went... well to be honest I'm not sure how it went." Kaya admitted. "He showed up very _very_ late, then apologized, and then..."

"You dumped that loser?" Miyu suggested.

"You ignored his ass and left?" Karin guessed.

"You dismembered him?" Saki frowned.

"No. I..." Kaya sighed and grabbed a fistful of her hair. "I gave him a second chance."

The gang members were shocked at the least and outraged at the most. She knew they were just concerned for her, but she still didn't want them poking around in her business. Being the leader she was, she silenced all the disbelieving gasps and comments with a simple look. Well, not quite a "simple" look, more of a menacing one really. But as fun as it was to expose her moments of weakness, she had other business to take care of.

"If I'm not mistaken, we've got some other business to discuss." She said, gesturing to Saki to come to her side, then waiting for her to speak.

"Oh, right." Saki cleared her throat. While Kaya knew the gist of Saki's discussion, having already been through it, she couldn't help but be unsettled by the way Saki's usually bright eyes fell into a serious stare. Saki threw Kaya a look of apology, which served to further her discomfort, before continuing. "There's a new dove in town."

"There's a _what?_ " Kaya spat out, her angry voice cutting clearly through the alarmed mutterings of the gang members. She stomped her way to Saki, grabbing her arm and almost reveling in the wince her grasp elicited from the younger ghoul (Almost. She also almost felt remorse. Almost.) as she shuffled over to a corner away from the group. It was clearly as private as this conversation was going to get, and with the cat out of the bag Kaya didn't bother trying to go elsewhere before she spoke again, lower this time. "I thought we were discussing territory disputes. _So what the fuck happened to that_? Huh? You can't just spring something on me like this, you should've talked to me before talking to them! What the fuck, Saki!"

Saki was breathing heavily, eyes blinking fast. She looked about ready to cry. "Kaya, please, I'm sorry. I didn't plan for it to go this way, I swear I just-"

"You just what? Now there's a mass panic to add to the heap of problems we already had. My panic included! And what the hell was the plan, huh? 'Hey Kaya, good morning, how was your date? Oh by the way there's a potentially deadly new neighbor which I neglected to inform you of.'" Kaya knew she needed to get herself under control, knew she needed to be calm in order to calm her girls, but she just couldn't. This felt like just about the worst week _ever_ and that meant quite a lot in Kaya's life.

"I didn't know until just today, and I would've told you in private, I swear I would have, you know I would have, but the way she was headed with the rest of that team from before, the way they were armed, they weren't out for a morning stroll Kaya! They were ready for a raid, and I tried so hard to clear the panic and be calm this morning, Kaya, but you know we're next!" Saki was leaking tears by this point, and Kaya's remaining anger escaped her tense body in a deep sigh.

"Where were they headed, Saki?" Kaya asked. Because if they were "next", then who is before them?

* * *

The thin rickety walls of the abandoned hotel used as En Headquarters threatened to collapse as the roar of applause shook them. Enji shook his hands as he signaled for the guys to calm down, but it had little effect since they had managed to shove him into the center of the room and formed a circle around him as if it was show and tell time in kindergarten.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you!" This was met by another roar of applause, but this time it quieted down almost immediately, ready to hear the story. "We went to a cafe. More after the break, let's go to Riku for the weather." He gave a sweep of his arm toward Riku, who groaned in protest.

"We can talk business later, c'mon!" His second in command protest. Scattered murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd.

"Do get on with it. We do have actual business to 'talk', after all." Haruto said, and though his face showed no frustration, his tone showed impatience. _Party pooper_ , Enji thought, focusing instead on the quiet enthusiasm running through the other members.

"Okay, so I was a bit late thanks to you fuckers-" Enji paused to allow the protests to settle down, "But I got her some flowers to make up for it. You know, like they do in movies and shit."

"Yeah, get that bitch some flowers!" Yamato agreed, "Bitches love flowers." Laughter filled the little room, and Enji waited to continue.

"She was still kind of upset at first-well okay very upset, like, kinda crying I think- but I told her I had to take care of my sick grandmother and she seemed to calm down kind of? She even agreed to a second date. But I mean, who wouldn't go out with the Devil Ape and come back for seconds?" He finished. More clapping as he signaled for Riku to take his place next to him in the center of the circle. As much as he hated Haruto for always being such a downer, the haggard ghoul had a point. They did have business to discuss. He only hoped he could redirect his gang's enthusiasm onto actual business.

"Wait just a second!" Riku said, although he stood and began to stride to the center, dirty wooden panels creaking beneath his booted feet. "Your dear old grandmother? Your beloved Nana? I've never heard of this woman!"

"Alright," Enji admitted, "So I may or may not have made that part up." Riku was stiffling laughter and shaking his head, though he didn't look very disapproving. As usual, Haruto was different story. He was looking up at Enji, but the crease in his brow was somehow different. Not more relaxed, but less angry. A new emotion for him, maybe. Enji allowed himself to make eye contact, and although the older ghoul's eyes were chiding, they had a faraway feel to them. As if he was seeing Enji, but only overlayed on another image.

"It is not a good idea to start a relationship with lies. They'll only lead to more lies, bigger lies." Haruto's tone was scolding, and Enji wasn't having any of it. He was not some snotty brat who needed a good scolding and a time out.

"I'm not a fucking child, Haruto. Save that tone for whatever spawn you may have." Now it was Enji's turn to do the scolding. "I know what I'm fucking doing. I _had_ to lie. What was I supposed to say, huh? 'Hey, babe, sorry I'm late. I had to lead a meeting for an infamous ghoul organization highly wanted by the CCG. What did you do today?' That would've been worse than lying. That would've been suicide."

"Perhaps it is this relationship which would be suicide." Haruto reasoned. Enji's anger flared again. He opened his mouth to give a retort, explain that the Devil Ape doesn't need to be talked down to as if he's stupid, but his first word was muffled by the distinct thump of something ramming into the flimsy back door. He lifted his right hand in a quiet signal to put on their masks, and the other members hurriedly obeyed.

He pulled down his own mask and hood, reveling in the familiar feeling of power that came with it. He scurried to one of the boarded up windows to his left, peering through a crack in the weathered planks. The considerable layer of grime on the window blurred his view so that he could make out nothing but humanoid figures whose stark white cloaks stood out in the night. His curse was a hiss muffled by his mask.

"Doves! He shouted. "Scatter!" The gang jumped into action, Riku bolting up the questionably stable stairs to check the upstairs windows. The others were taking any incriminating evidence- personal belongings, written notes, and the like- and shoving it into pockets or mouths in a frenzy. The clattering on the door grew louder and he heard a woman's voice shout in frustration on the other side. This was probably the worst thing that could've happened, and of fucking course it had to happen to him. _The world is truly out to get me,_ Enji grumbled.

Riku flew back down the stairs, signaling that the upstairs windows are clear. The other members stormed up the stairs in a chaotic and probably ill-advised stampede. Haruto's slightly hunched form, however, made its way to Enji. Riku rushed upstairs to direct the flow of ghouls out the windows and into the night. There was no more noice coming from upstairs now, save for the occasional creak of the floorboards. One particularly loud creak from behind him made Enji spin around into a fight stance, only to relax once he saw it was only Yamato. The younger ghoul yanked his hood over his messy dark hair before letting his hands fall to his side.

"I want to help." He announced. Enji would've denied him, if not for the determined edge his usually playful voice had taken on. The ghoul was young, but he'd proven himself in battle before. Though the circumstances had been very different at the time. Enji punched his worried thoughts back into submission and nodded.

"Okay, Riku should be leading the others outside now. He'll be done any time now. The three of us are going to stay here and hold back the crew while Ryota acts as decoy and Yuto leads the group to the rendezvous point. Got it?" Enji commanded. Haruto nodded gravely, and Yamato mimicked him. Enji's thoughts drifted to the others. Ryota and Yuto, both ukaku types, were arguably the fastest of the group, but they would tire out sooner. He could only hope they'd make it. Riku had been certain it was clear to leave from upstairs as long as they used the front windows, meaning the CCG had only sent a small team to get them. _Heh, dumbasses_ , Enji thought, _They must think we're so weak, huh? Sending such a small team that they can't even cover all our exits._

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Riku's feet slamming into the ground next to him. The plank gave way beneath him, cracking to reveal some of the concrete beneath, which was now chipped. _He's always wanted to jump from upstairs,_ Enji chuckled to himself. Riku's ukaku was already out, so Enji allowed his own kagune to emerge.

Yamato took that as the cue to get ready as well, and his own ukaku flared from his back in a mess of feathery black protrusions. No sooner had he done this than the door finally gave way. Three doves came barreling through the splintering hole in the wall, quinque at the ready. _Shit, here we go,_ Enji thought.

"Welcome, gentlemen," Enji gave a welcoming sweep of his arms, stepping into a line with Riku on his right and the others to his left. He saw the dragonfly-like wings on Riku's back flit with anticipation as his own tail gave a playful flick. He looked to his second in command, wordlessly trying to make a plan.

"Please excuse the mess," Riku brough a hand to his face in mock embarrassment, "We weren't expecting company." Enji gave a dry chuckle, the kind that's more menacing than good-humored. He let his fists clench once to relieve the growing tension from waiting. The gesture did not go unseen by the lady who appeared to be in charge of the small team. She narrowed her brown eyes and directed a cold glare at Riku. The agent wore the customary white coat of a CCG murderer, and her posture showed the calm discipline of training. Her face was round, but not soft, firm with the severity of the situation, and her shiny dark hair was pulled into a tight bun at the crown of her head. She might have been attractive if he didn't hate her so much already.

His eyes snapped down at a sudden movement from her hand, and his tail curled in front of him to block the shot from her quinque. Riku jumped into action, but so did the other two investigators. A shorter man with a shaved head and two axe-like quinque jumped at Riku, preventing him from getting at the woman in the center. Riku looked at Enji before sending a wave of shards at the investigators. Enji nodded. They'd have to split up for this one, then.

Yamato rushed to the third cloaked figure, a thin woman with brown hair restrained with a clip. Haruto was on his heels, ready to provide backup. This woman seemed to be newer, her reflexes good but not as practiced as those of her partners. She raised her quinque to strike Yamato, but left her stomach unguarded. Yamato struck her with a hard punch, and she let out a harsh gasp before kicking out his left ankle and bringing him down. He rolled out of the way of her attack, shooting several sharp black spikes at her from his ukaku so that she had to spin her sword shaped quinque to deflect them.

Enji and the more experienced woman were in what appeared to be a deadlock. She would fire a round at him, and he would easily bat it away with his blood red bikaku. He would then swing the appendage toward her, only to have her dodge at the last second. After a few rounds of this he was growing impatient, and she managed to graze him with a quinque bullet. Rage flooded his veins. _It's on now, bitch,_ Enji flexed his kagune.

Her eyes widened as she jumped over his tail as if it was a jump rope. But the next blow came quicker than expected, red glowing flesh coming down on her like a hammer, and she unsheathed the sword from her back to parry. _Oh no fair, she has two._ He growled as he doubled his efforts yet again. _Oh well, I guess she needs that many for a fighting chance against the Devil Ape._

The slick kagune slid off her quinque only to make a grab for the hand wielding it. She yelped at the sudden touch and shot it with her other quinque. Enji employed the technique the smaller girl had used, sweeping a booted foot to kick her leg out from under her. She groaned at the impact but refused to go down fully, ending up on one knee before shooting at him again. She yelped and looked at her hand, dotted with small incisions, then looked at the wall next to her, where the moldy wallpaper was now adorned with crystalline shards from Riku's kagune.

The short man had a gruff look about his face, a scowl beneath his mustache as he saw it'd been clipped by the shards. He took a moment to scowl some more, this time at the small hairs from his mustache now peppered on the floor. He prepared for a swing. The axes had the advantage of hitting very hard, with the disadvantage of taking too long to heft at an enemy. This disadvantage was further exploited by Riku's natural agility as an ukaku, sending volley after volley of shards at the agent, forcing him to abandon his attempted hits in order to dodge. Riku stopped to chuckle, muffled through his mask, fluttering his wings teasingly. He continued to chuckle as he swerved to the left to avoid a hit from an axe, only to have to duck down to avoid a swing from the other axe. The weapon made a long gash down his arm, cutting through the thick material of his jacket sleeve, but thankfully not embedding itself into his flesh.

Enji glanced over when he heard Riku's wince and hiss. He knew they were going to be outnumbered if the agents in the room got backup, and they were going to get tired after a while more. It was a split second decision, but he vaulted over the dark haired woman as she thrust her sword forward, swiping down with his kagune as he went over her head. The whine of the decaying wood and thud of her body confirmed that he struck her down for now. After sending one last round of spikes toward the little man, Riku ran to his side and they skirted through the sizable holes in the splintering floor. When they weren't joined by Haruto and Yamato soon, Enji risked a look over his shoulder and a shout of "Come on!"

This was a mistake, as it made Yamato turn his head to look at them. Instead of looking at the woman. The woman currently swinging her deadly weapon in a smooth arc towards him. Enji was about to shout a warning to him when a blur of white and blue moved into his field of vision. Upon closer look, he smiled.

A hard blue spiral stood between the blade and Yamato. Haruto's koukaku. And, by extension, Haruto himself. After an odd imitation of a parry which forced her back a few steps, Haruto brusquely shoved Yamato towards the exit, shouting for him to hurry. Yamato obliged speechlessly.

* * *

After ten minutes of blundering through the shadows and leaping over rusting corrugated roofing, the group of four made it to the rendevouz point.

"Unassuming" was a very polite way of describing the location. "Dump" was probably much more fitting. It was a dilapidated old building, the exterior which may have once been neatly painted was chipping and peeling to reveal the plain brick beneath. The offices in it may have still been in use, but none of the lights were on so it must be too late into the night (or early in the morning, depending on how you looked at it) for businessmen to be at work. It was just empty enough to be safe (ish) and just out in the open enough that the doves wouldn't expect it. Enji patted himself on the back for his shrewdness.

"Soon as Ryota gets here we leave." Enji announced.

"Hey boss," Yuto said, "where we headed now?"

"Yeah, and how'd they find us anyway?" another voice chimed in. Enji couldn't think of any explanation. They'd been so careful. Well, as careful as one can be when they're dressing up as apes and wreaking havoc, anyway. But still, there was just no way. _'Unless... someone tipped them off..."_ The thought hit Enji like a roundhouse kick, and he had to bite down the anger and betrayal that flooded his system. He'd have to sort that out later.

"I dunno how the damn things found us." Enji said, hesitating (for once) before adding, "I have an idea of where we're goin', but you're not gonna like it."

* * *

Meanwhile, several much darker streets away, a considerably larger group of CCG agents stood at varying degrees of attention. Their leader shifted in his cloak to pull out a communicator.

"Arakawa, this is Hachikawa reporting. Flushing them out failed, we were misled by a decoy." He sounded much too calm. "Next time, it's my plan. We trap them."


End file.
